Build A Life, Not Make A Living

I would like to dedicate an Al-Fatihah to a friend who died in a fatal accident middle of last week.

It was so tragic, and such a tragedy because it was not his time yet. That was what I thought when I heard about his sudden passing. Not that I know when his time was supposed to be up, anyhow.

I was in denial because I felt he was too young to die. He was not only a good friend, but a good man. He was sincere, very helpful and always made time for people. So perhaps that is why people say, “the good die young”.

My deepest regret in our friendship is not spending time to have that chat over coffee with him for the last time before he died.

My friend and I talked about having that chat over coffee for quite some time. Rather than seizing the day, being spontaneous, going for it and making it a certainty, we were always planning for that chat over coffee whenever we talked on the phone. In the end, what has yet to happen will never happen, and that, I know is a certainty.

I did not expect he would die so soon. I did not know that his tomorrow never came, so that opportunity to have that chat over coffee with him is lost forever.

Anyway, yesterday is past. Tomorrow has not arrived. Today is here, so it is the only real moment that we have. As we do not know if we would still be alive tomorrow, today is beyond doubt a priceless gift because we are alive today. Because today is a gift, it is not an irony it is called the present.

Today I would like to make a difference to those of us, including myself, who keep thinking that we have that many tomorrows such that we keep postponing important things in life that matter more to us, because of what we are busy with today.

Really, have we ever sat down and think if the things that we are busy with today are what matters most just before we die? There are many things that people are busy with. I would like to take money as an example, because many people I asked rate money as very important in their lives, and spend a major part of their time and energy making money for themselves and for their loved ones.

Stop for a minute and think.

We work so hard for money – for some, to sustain our living, for some, to improve our standard of living, for some, as a means to an end so they can enjoy life better, and for some, to create wealth or to create more wealth.

Whatever our reasons, considerations and justifications are, most of us work so hard for money, so much so that this colossal effort we put into making money are taking us away further and further from the very thing we work hard for in our lives.

God intended to give us 24 hours a day so that we have eight hours to make a living, eight hours to build a life – religion, self, family, friends – and eight hours to rest and sleep. Do not let our extreme “busy-ness” keep borrowing many hours from the quality time we were meant to spend for all the things in life that really matter to us.

For the most important things in life, if we can do it today, why postpone until tomorrow. Do it now, do not wait until later.

Let us build a life, not just make a living. Appreciate the present moment.

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About Nel Fahro-Rozi

I’m an avid reader, prolific wordsmith, cat lover, and passionate foodie and traveler. When I’m not in a world of my own with any of the above, I am an entrepreneur, communicator and writer.
View all posts by Nel Fahro-Rozi

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 at 1:00 pm and posted in Learning Curve. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.